Mattingly admits to being on early hot seat

Aug. 6, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 12:28 p.m.

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Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Tuesday that team president Stan Kasten warned him changes may need to be made when the club was playing well below expectations in May. CHRISTIAN PETERSEN, GETTY IMAGES

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Tuesday that team president Stan Kasten warned him changes may need to be made when the club was playing well below expectations in May. CHRISTIAN PETERSEN, GETTY IMAGES

ST. LOUIS – Apparently, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was every bit as close to losing his job as many thought during the team's dreadful start to this season.

Mattingly revealed Tuesday that Dodgers CEO and team president Stan Kasten came to him around the time of the Dodgers' series in Milwaukee in late May – when speculation about Mattingly's job security was at its height and Mattingly let loose with some pointed criticism of his team, questioning its lack of toughness.

"Stan was really honest," Mattingly said. "I don't think he wanted to do anything but he said, 'Donnie, at some point I have to do something.'

"I understand. You can't just let your team go. I get it. At some point, you need a different voice. If it's not going good, you have to make a change just to make a change. You might be doing the best job you can possibly do and it wouldn't make a difference. I get that."

Mattingly said he did not view Kasten's comment as a threat to his job.

"No, not really," he said. "I totally understand. I didn't mind (him saying) it. It was just honest. He wasn't trying to make me feel better. He was basically just telling me the truth.

"I understood. I think you just understand baseball and what happens sometimes."

The Dodgers have turned it around with a historic 40-game run. They have gone from worst to first in the NL West, going 32-8 since June 22, the best record in baseball in that time. It's a stretch that has rewarded management for its patience with Mattingly.

"What I said at the time was, I didn't see that (the manager) being the problem," Kasten said recently. "We had to get through the carousel of injuries that hit us for everything to fall into place. For now, it looks like it has and we have the team we thought we'd have — for the most part."

Kasten declined to discuss Mattingly's contract status when asked during the series in Chicago last weekend and Mattingly dismissed the topic Tuesday. Mattingly is in the final year of a three-year contract which includes an option for the 2014 season. The Dodgers have not picked up the option yet.

"I'm not worried about any of that right now," Mattingly said. "I'm just worried about winning games. That's not even an issue."

RAMIREZ UPDATE

For the second consecutive day since he tumbled into the stands at Wrigley Field, shortstop Hanley Ramirez reported improvement in his injured right shoulder. The range of motion has increased each day and Ramirez said the shoulder feels "way better" than it did Sunday.

"I just want to get the inflammation and stiffness out of there and we'll see from there," Ramirez said.

Ramirez's recovery has been encouraging enough that there are no plans for him to have an MRI on the shoulder now.

A contrast MRI would require a dye injection that would keep Ramirez from most activities for three days.

"As long as he keeps going forward like this and doesn't stall and continues to keep getting range of motion back, there won't be an MRI," Mattingly said. "We'll keep going forward with this. If he stalls or gets stuck somewhere, that's when we'll do it (an MRI).

"It's pretty much a day-to-day thing."

NOTES

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp played catch on the field and hit off a tee in the batting cages each of the first two days in St. Louis and did so without the walking boot he had been wearing on his injured left ankle. "Yesterday was big to me because he was able to bounce back and didn't go backward," Mattingly said. "So he's moving. I'm not sure how far that's gotten us down the road. But at least, that hasn't gone backward." ...

The San Francisco Giants reached a tentative agreement on a minor-league contract with veteran left-hander Ted Lilly but rescinded the offer after reviewing his medical records. Lilly, 37, was released by the Dodgers over the weekend after being designated for assignment a week earlier.

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